Hardening Hearts

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Jeremiah 7:23-28 | Psalm 95 | Luke 11:14-23

HARD - AND HARDENING - HEARTS

“They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts.” - Jeremiah 7:24

If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts (see Psalm 95:7-8).

We can have hardening of our hearts for years, even for generations (Jeremiah 7:26). For centuries, we can ignore God and become progressively worse than our fathers, who were worse than their fathers and grandfathers (see Jeremiah 7:26). The hardening of hearts can be a problem, not only for individuals but also for nations (see Jeremiah 7:28). Hard and hardening hearts can be generational, epidemic, and even international. They can become so hard that we kill God’s prophets, forget that there is faithfulness (Jeremiah 7:28), and even accuse Jesus of working for the devil (Luke 11:15). Have you ever wondered what our grandparents would say about some of the things that we take for granted today? What would they think about wholesale abortion on demand, about some of the things that we watch on the TV without batting an eyelid? Would they be surprised that we never bother to read the Bible, or that we rebel against God’s Church and His ways? How far have we come?

If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts.

Prayer: Father, melt my heart, for Jesus’ sake.

Aspiring to Greatness

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9 | Psalm 147 | Matthew 5:17-19

GREAT SHAKES

“What great nation has statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today?” - Deuteronomy 4:8

“God is Love” (I John 4:16). Accordingly, He wants to give people the best, the greatest. Therefore, He raises up great people to do great things. God calls us to greatness because He is Love.

We will be great and our nation will be great if we:

1.  Observe God’s law carefully (Deuteronomy 4:6-8; Matthew   

      5:19).

2.  Teach God’s commands (Matthew 5:19).

3.  Serve people (Matthew 20:26).

This obeying, teaching, and serving is so demanding that, like Jesus, we give our lives for others (Matthew 20:28). Greatness means not self-realization but self-dying. Greatness is not being like Pontius Pilate, Herod, the Pharisees, or Jesus’ executioners but being like Jesus on the cross. The road to greatness is the way of the cross.

Do you want to be great by Jesus’ standards? Even if you don’t, will you be great anyway for love of God and His people? Choose greatness. Choose obedience, teaching, serving, dying, and loving. Be great for Love (I John 4:16).

Prayer: Father, may I please You by aspiring to true greatness (see Matthew 20:26).

Forgiveness

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Daniel 3:25, 34-43 | Psalm25 | Matthew 18:21-35

FASTING + FORGIVENESS = ?

“My heavenly Father will treat you in exactly the same way unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.” - Matthew 18:35

After Jesus fasted forty days, He came out of the desert in the power of the Spirit (Luke 4:14). After our Lenten discipline, we too are to be moving in the power of the Spirit, in a new Pentecost.

However, the flesh (our fallen nature with its selfish desires) will oppose the Spirit (Galatians 5:17). Lack of forgiveness is the cause of many works of the flesh, such as “hostilities, bickering, jealousy, outbursts of rage, selfish rivalries, dissentions, factions, envy” (Galatians 5:20-21). Therefore, a lack of forgiveness is one of the main ways we stifle (see I Thessalonians 5:19) and grieve (Ephesians 4:30) the Spirit. Consequently, if Lent is going to lead to Pentecost, we must accept God’s grace to forgive 70 x 7 times (Matthew 18:22). We must forgive from our heart; otherwise, our time of discipline will not result in freedom (see Isaiah 58:6) but in torture (Matthew 18:34). ‘Fasting’ (in our case, the taking up of a disciplined time of prayer and study during Lent), without forgiveness is not crucifying the flesh (see Galatians 5:24) but merely indulging the flesh in a more subtle way.

When you fast, forgive. When you forgive, pray for the Spirit. You will receive a new Pentecost.

Prayer: Father, by Your grace I decide to forgive. Thank You for the miracle of forgiveness.

Taking the Lower Place

Monday, February 25, 2013

II Kings 5:1-15 | Psalm 42 | Luke 4:24-30

THE LOW-DOWN ON SERVING

“He turned about in anger and left. But his servants came up and reasoned with him.” - II Kings 5:12-13

Humble servants surround proud Naaman. When she hears that her master is sick, a young Israelite servant girl sends him to the source of healing: the prophet Elisha. When Naaman comes to Elisha, however, he is told that he must bathe in the River Jordan if he wants to be healed. Naaman will not do this simple thing; it is too demeaning for him. It is only when his humble servants come up and reason with him that he is finally persuaded. He bathes; he is healed. So, in a way, Naaman’s servants have more to do with Naaman’s healing than does Elisha.

When Jesus preached at Nazareth, He specifically called attention to the humble servants in Naaman’s party. Where were the humble servants in the synagogue at Nazareth? Apparently, there weren’t any. “The whole audience in the synagogue was filled with indignation” (Luke 4:28). No one served this proud congregation by humbly swallowing their pride, reasoning with the leaders of the synagogue rebellion, and leading them to the healing that Jesus wanted to give (see Luke 4:18, Mark 6:5).

Who will serve by taking the low places? (see Luke 14:10) If no one takes the lowly servant positions, then Jesus is ignored in our families, workplaces, churches, and towns. Our task is to serve.

Prayer: Father, I close my heart to pride and open my eyes to Your opportunities.

The Heart

Sunday, February 24, 2013 | Second Sunday of Lent

Exodus 20:1-17 | Psalm 19 | I Corinthians 1:22-25 | John 2:13-25

HEART-WRENCHING

We all have been born with a severe spiritual heart defect. We all need open-heart surgery. Jesus is “the surgeon General.” Jesus alone is well aware of what is in our hearts (Jeremiah 17:10). He alone is capable of doing this operation. He already did it on Calvary. This operation was applied to our hearts when we were baptized into His death (Romans 6:3) and finished when we decided to live by faith in Christ alone.

However, we must guard our new hearts by not letting them become hardened by sin and closed through selfishness (see Psalm 95:8). We should ask Jesus to purify our hearts. He will drive out of our lives all that is not in His will (see John 2:15). He will turn many tables in our lives and spill our coins (John 2:15). He will overturn many of our plans and may dispose of some of those earthly things upon which we lean too much. The Lord will “clean house.”

When Jesus purifies our temple, it is heart-wrenching. Our first reaction is to drive Jesus out (Matthew 8:34). However, if we resist this temptation by trusting in the Lord, even if we don’t understand what He’s doing, then our new hearts will stay new and will even become like Jesus’ heart (see Matthew 11:29). “Jesus, gentle and humble of heart, make our hearts like Yours.”

Prayer: Father, cleanse my heart; make me more like my Savior.

Mercy

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Micah 7:14-15, 18-20 | Psalm 103 | Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

JUST MERCY?

“The Pharisees and the scribes murmured, ‘This man welcomes sinners,’” - Luke 15:2

The prophet Micah marveled: “Who is there like You, the God Who removes guilt and pardons sin for the remnant of His inheritance?” (Micah 7:18) Micah was impressed by God’s unique, unparalleled, and unprecedented forgiveness. Others, however, are depressed and bewildered by God’s forgiveness.

Imagine a person raped and murdered your best friend. Then imagine that the rapist-murderer gave his life to God, who then removed the killer’s guilt and pardoned his sin. The rapist wouldn’t be guilty, but forgiven and unconditionally loved. If he died, he would be with the Lord that day in paradise (see Luke 23:43). Nobody gives mercy to sinners like God does. Many people consider this to be unfair to the victims whose lives have been traumatized. This was part of the reason for the complaint of the Prodigal Son’s older brother (see Luke 15:30).

God’s mercy is not unjust, because He sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross to atone for sins. Because Jesus has justified us, He is free to have mercy on all those who accept His saving death. God’s mercy is compatible with His justice because of Calvary. God is the Victim as well as the Conqueror; therefore He can forgive.

Prayer: Jesus, You became the ultimate Victim. You took upon Yourself all of the injustices ever committed. Pour out Your crucified mercy to cover all victims, and heal them by Your wounds (I Peter 2:24).

Forgiveness

Friday, February 22, 2013

Genesis 37:3-4, 12-13, 17-28 | Psalm 105 | Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46

GREAT FORGIVENESS

“He made him lord of his house and ruler of all his possessions.” - Psalm 105:21

After Jesus fasted for forty days in the desert, He “returned in power of the Spirit” (Luke 4:14). Likewise, we will emerge from this Lenten period as men and women of God, “filled with faith and the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:5), but only if we accept God’s grace to forgive those who have hurt us.

Joseph became one of the greatest people in history and one of the most powerful men in the world, but he first had to forgive his brothers for planning to murder him and selling him into slavery (Genesis 37:20, 28). Jesus, the Greatest of all, God Himself, was the stone rejected by the builders (Matthew 21:42). Jesus was rejected so viciously that He was nailed to a cross. There He prayed: “Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). The greatest people are the greatest forgivers.

Forgiveness is one of the major graces we seek during Lent. Forgiveness is the road to greatness, the way of the cross, the vocation of every person. Forgive and be great.

Prayer: Father, may I forgive as Jesus forgave when He hung on the cross.

Meditating on the Law

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Jeremiah 17:5-10 | Psalm 1 | Luke 16:19-31

THE WORD FOR LENT

“Happy the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, but delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on His law day and night.” - Psalm 1:1-2

When Jesus fasted for forty days in the desert, He overcame the temptations of Satan by quoting the Scriptures (see Luke 4:4, 8, 12).

Jesus told the Pharisees that listening to Moses and the prophets, that is, the Scriptures, has more power to change our hearts than meeting someone raised from the dead (Luke 24:27, 45).

On the day Jesus rose from the dead, He spent the afternoon and evening interpreting the Scriptures (Luke 24:27, 45).

After the first Christian Pentecost, the newborn Church devoted itself to the apostles’ instruction, which was based on the Scriptures (Acts 2:42).

Jerome, the translator of the most famous Latin Bible insisted, “Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.” He was right. Saving, Bible knowledge doesn’t just ‘happen,’ it has to be acquired. During Lent, you are especially encouraged to participate in the discipline of Scripture reading. It will stand you in good stead when the thunder rolls and the stormy waters rise.

Abide in God’s word (John 8:31; 15:7). May it be the “joy and the happiness” of your heart (Jeremiah 15:16).

Prayer: Father, I put your Word on the lampstand of my life so as to give light to all in the house (Luke 8:16).

Desires of our Hearts

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Jeremiah 18:18-20 | Psalm 31 | Matthew 20:17-28

SCRUTINIZING SELF-AHOLICS

“The mother of Zebedee’s sons came up to Him accompanied by her sons, to do Him homage and ask of Him a favor.” - Matthew 20:20

As we enter more deeply into Lent, Jesus asks us: “What is it you want?” (Matthew 20:21) The desires of our hearts may be like those of the mother of Zebedee’s sons (Matthew 20:21). We may be thinking more about ourselves than God. So, Jesus tries to break the spell of self. He asks another question: “Can you drink the cup I am to drink?” (Matthew 20:22) Jesus wants to change us from being self-seeking sinners to cross-carrying Christians.

Lent is a good time for us to ask the Lord to scrutinize our hearts, motives, desires, and lives. Traditionally, it’s a time when people are preparing to become members of the Church. When, at the service of reception we ask them if they have repented of their sins, our question should be serious; and we should be serious in our own hearts. May God’s word penetrate our inmost being, separate the good from the bad, judge the thoughts and reflections of our hearts, and purify us (Hebrews 4:12).

When Jesus asks us “What is it you want?” may we not be fixated on ourselves but focused on Him. May we want to give more than receive (Acts 20:35) and to serve more than be served (Matthew 20:28). May we want the cross more than pleasure and Jesus more than heaven. May we want what He wants.

Prayer: Father, give me the desires of Your heart.

Repentance

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Isaiah 1:10, 16-20 | Psalm 50 | Matthew 23:1-12

BETTER DEAD THAN RED

“Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow; though they be crimson red, they may become white as wool.” - Isaiah 1:18

You’ve heard of “white lies.” Actually, there is no such thing as a colored lie. There are no black, green, orange, or white lies. However, the Lord does refer to colored sins - at least the color scarlet or crimson red. As a scarlet red stain is sometimes the most difficult to remove, so certain sins are the most difficult to forget and to forgive especially when we are the ones in need of forgiveness. Even after we have repented and been forgiven, we may still feel guilty and ashamed.

We must soak in the water of God’s word (Ephesians 5:26) if the stain of scarlet sin is to be removed. During these weeks, we have a special opportunity to soak in Scripture. Jesus used the Bible to prevent the stain of sin; He overcame the temptations of Satan by repeatedly quoting the Old Testament (see Matthew 4:1). During Lent especially, we should abide in God’s word (John 8:31). If we do, Scriptural truth (see John 17:17) and Biblical discipleship will, by the grace of God, set us free (John 8:32) from the persistent guilt of scarlet red sin.

Prayer: Father, may I repent so quickly and live so deeply in Your word that my guilt will be washed away.

On Not Judging

Monday, February 18, 2013

Daniel 9:4-10 | Psalm 79 | Luke 6:36-38

TOO BUSY TO JUDGE?

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Pardon, and you shall be pardoned. Give, and it shall be given to you.” - Luke 6:37-38

The Lord commands us not to judge or condemn others. However, we should recognize sins and do our best to encourage the person to live a life that will honor God, and His Law. Then we should leave the judging and sentencing up to God.

For example, if you know a person is committing some particular sin, you should love the sinner enough to talk to them about changing their ways (see Ezekiel 3:17; 33:7). If this doesn’t help free the person, you should encourage them to talk to someone with more experience. Hopefully, this will keep them from further sinful, self-destructive acts. Then you should leave it in God’s hands. He alone is the Judge and the One with the authority to sentence unrepentant sinners.

We are called to warn, intercede for, teach, prophesy to, and serve sinners, we are to call them to repent and after have done the same (Luke 6:42). We are ministers of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18). Of course this is often a thankless. Yet our love will not be worth very much if we stand idly by as a friend falls into adultery, or our children into drug or alcohol abuse.

Not judging or condemning does not mean doing nothing, being passive, or being permissive. It means actively contending for the truth, and for personal holiness. God save us from judgmentalism, but may He also save us from being so accommodating that we fail to speak out on behalf of what we know to be right.

Prayer: Jesus, guard my lips, then guide me to speak for You.

Listen

Sunday, February 17, 2013 | First Sunday of Lent

Genesis 22:1-2, 9, 10-13, 15-18 | Psalm 116 | Romans 8:31-34 | Mark 9:2-10

LISTENING POST

“Listen to Him.” - Mark 9:7

The Lord is the most important Person in the world to listen to, and the most important thing He says is: “If a man wishes to come after Me, he must deny his very self, take up his cross, and follow in Me” (Mark 8:34). Nevertheless, although the message of the cross is the power and the wisdom of God (I Corinthians 1:24), we, like the apostles, find it the most difficult message to hear.

So Jesus led three apostles “up a high mountain. He was transfigured before their eyes” (Mark 9:2). Light burst forth from Jesus’ transfigured body. Moses and Elijah, who had both been dead for several centuries, appeared (Mark 9:4). Next, a cloud came and overshadowed the apostles (Mark 9:7). Out of the cloud, God the Father’s voice announced: “This is My Son, My Beloved. Listen to Him” (Mark 9:7). The dazzling light, the return of Moses and Elijah from the dead, the cloud, and the voice were all part of a drama proclaiming emphatically the necessity of listening to Jesus.

After the Transfiguration, Jesus again talked to His apostles about the cross. The apostles still didn’t listen (Mark 9:31-32). Finally, they received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Then they listened to Jesus and carried their crosses daily.

We must listen to Jesus. Otherwise, this day will be wasted or perhaps even worse. We must listen to Jesus or miss out on life now and forever. “Listen to Him” (Mark 9:7). Come, Holy Spirit!

Prayer: Father, I will listen to You when You tell me to listen to Jesus.

Unity in Christ

Saturday, February 16, 2013

I Peter 5:1-4 | Psalm 23 | Matthew 16:13-19

ONE FOR ALL, AND ALL FOR ONE

“I for My part declare to you, you are ‘Rock,’ and on this rock I will build My Church, and the jaws of death shall not prevail against it. I will entrust to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” - Matthew 16:18-19

The Lord wants us to be one as He and the Father are one (John 17:21). “It was in one Spirit” that we “were baptized into one body” (I Corinthians 12:13). The source, center, and culmination of our faith is receiving and being in unity, union, and communion with the Lord and each other.

The Lord has provided practical means for us to become one. He has given us His Church as a symbol of unity (see Matthew 16:18-19). Just as receiving Holy Communion is not merely a physical event but actually receiving grace through taking the tokens of the body and blood of Jesus, so our unity in the body of Christ is more than belonging to a club of like-minded individuals; at least it should be. Our unity is based on our relationship with Christ in love, submission, and obedience. We are one with and in Christ. We are one because we have believed the same eternal truth. We are one with each other. Let us celebrate our unity, and let us make it real.

Prayer: Father, make us one by Your standards and in Your ways.

Live in Him

Friday, February 15, 2013

Ezekiel 18:21-28 | Psalm 97 | Matthew 5:20-26

TODAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME

“Lose no time.” - Matthew 5:25

“All’s well that ends well.” “If the wicked man turns away from all the sins he committed, if he keeps all my statues and does what is right and just, he shall surely live, he shall not die” (Ezekiel 18:21). The “good thief” lived a miserable life, but ended well and was in paradise with Jesus on the day they both died (Luke 23:43).

Because our ending is all-important, some people wait until the end to accept Jesus. This is a serious mistake. “Delay not your conversion to the Lord, put it not off from day to day; for suddenly His wrath flames forth; at the time of vengeance, you will be destroyed” (Sir 5:8-9). If we truly want to die with Christ, why wouldn’t we want to live with Him as soon as possible? Imagine waiting till you’re almost dead to marry someone! Your marriage would not have time enough to break up, but you would have lost years of married love. When you give your life to Jesus, your only regret will be that you didn’t do it sooner.

The best way to die in Christ is to live in Him. How can you persevere if you haven’t started or are reluctant to start? “Lose no time” (Matthew 5:25). “Now is the acceptable time! Now is the day of salvation!” (II Corinthians 6:2) Now, at this moment, give your whole life to the Lord.

Prayer: Father, may I not miss another minute of life with You.

Ask and You Will Receive

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Psalm 138 | Matthew 7:7-12

FORMING AN ASK-FORCE

“Ask, and you will receive. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened to you. For the one who asks, receives.” - Matthew 7:7-8

Some ingenious Bible preachers and teachers have tried to expound on the differences between asking, seeking, and knocking. However, all three commands probably mean the same thing. Jesus is simply and repeatedly commanding us to ask, ask, and ask. Are we getting the message? If so, why does Jesus keep repeating Himself?

Most of us ask God for a thing or two. Yet it may be that He wants us to ask Him for hundreds or thousands of things. Jesus told His apostles: “Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you shall receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:24). The writer of the book of James bluntly stated: “You do not obtain because you do not ask” (James 4:2).

Jesus wants us to ask more - not because He won’t give without our asking, but because He wants us to communicate with Him more. He calls us to abide in Him (see John 15:5, 7), to live in His presence. He does not call us to ask out of selfishness but out of love (James 4:3). He wants us to share every detail of our lives with Him. He wants to be our Life (see Philippians 1:21; Galatians 2:20).

Constantly asking Him means constantly loving Him and living in Him. Ask Love (1 John 4:16). Ask Life (John 14;6, John 11:25). Ask Jesus.

Prayer: Father, this Lent teach me to ask as Your child.

Ash Wednesday

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Jonah 3:1-10 | Psalm 51 | Luke 11:29-32

ASH WEDNESDAY

“They proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.” - Jonah 3:5

When the Ninevites repented, they expressed their repentance by fasting, covering themselves with sackcloth, and sitting in ashes (Jonah 3:5-6). They indicated “by their actions how they turned from their evil way” (Jonah 3:10).

Some Christian traditions use this, Old Testament practice, as a pattern for their devotions during Lent. For some, this means attending special services at which ashes are smeared upon the worshiper’s brow. Often, the ashes will have been made from the palm crosses which were used in the previous year’s Palm Sunday service. Ashes are, for these Christians, a symbol of repentance, an expression of sorrow that our hallelujahs turn so quickly into apathy and indifference.

How do we express our repentance? This is a critical question. Because of the way we are, if we don’t express repentance, we may not be repentant. May this Lent be a re-discovery of our real sorrow for sin, and of our deepest selves.

Prayer: Father, I repent down to the bone.